| My take on the band: It all started 5 years ago (Winter 1994), when I picked up a copy of the latest Thrasher magazine. Reading the interview on the Swingin' Utters grew my interest on the band. They were described as a band that "everyone would like, from Punk to Rockabily to Reggae." After reading the article, I saw a NRA ad for the band's newest LP, The Streets of San Francisco. Thrasher was also advertising, at this time, Streets as a free gift when subscribing to the magazine. As I started to become more curious as to who and what the band was like, I finally got my hands on a copy of Streets. I'm still suprised that I was able to find it in a Tower Records on South Street, while none of the punk shops carried it. Listening to the sound at first was somewhat foreign to me. The only music that played in my walkman during the time period prior to purchasing Streets, was Violent Society, Exploited, and Total Chaos. Branching from listening to this type of music to a totally different, and less aggressive Utters sound, was at first strange. The sound eventually grew on me to the point that I felt compelled to purchase everything Utters prior to Streets. (Most of the records are now unfortunately out of print, but the important songs are still probably available on the More Scared cd). In the summer of 1995, something called the Warped Tour came to Philadelphia. Eventhough it is now recognized widely, this was at a time where Vans and all the other sponsors took no part in producing the tour. With my Streets playing 24/7 in my walkman, I became very excited to see them (a pic of the ticket is in the misc. section of this site) The majority of the crowd there came to see the well known: Quicksand, L7, Civ, Tilt, and No Use For A Name. By the way, No Doubt was also part of the Warped Tour, but didn't play in Philly. When I finally saw the Utters walk in to the area, they immediately set up a stand selling their merchandise. Only a small group of punks crowded around the group. I asked Max Huber, "what stage are you playing at." He said, "I'm sorry, we're 4 hours late, they won't let us play." Well, this was disappointing. I bought an Utters shirt, a free sticker, and left. As time went by, I filled up a 120 minute tape of every thing Utters I owned. I lent it to my friend Dave, and somehow two months later, it turned out that over 15 people had borrowed and copied it. Now, the tape is warped and sounds like shit. Winter 1995 came around and the Utters came to Philly's Pontiac Grille. Playing with Hagfish, the room emptied to about 25 punks when the Utters played. I still recall the first time I saw them... they were sitting at the bar watching MTV, when a Rancid Video came up. On Tim's guitar displayed an Utters sticker. It was weird to stare at them while they saw themselves being portrayed on MTV. I also recall Johnny having a leather jacket saying "The Utters are Cumming" on the back. The band played and it became one of the best shows I've ever seen. Not only did the music sound incredible, but the live show they put on, and the small size of the room, made the show amazing. Soon, popularity of the band grew in my highschool, as I finally saw people walking around with Utters shirts and homemade patches. Sounds Wrong and Live at the bottom of the hill came out and it gave me something else to listen to from the band. Eventually, they changed labels to Fat. It seemed weird at the time, and to me, the music changed to more of the stereotypical Fat Wreck Chords/NOFX sound. This was weird to listen to, because I was used to the more raw and not so poppy sound. This album eventually grew on me, but not to the same extent as Streets. Then they appeared on many different compilations which enhanced their popularity. In 1998, Five Lessons Learned came out and became a milestone to the history of the Utters. It featured many songs with multiple types of sounds. I truly feel that this album has something for everyone. From the Queers-esque sounding I Need Feedback, to the Streets-esque Tell Me Lies, to the folk Fruitless Fortunes, this album definitely displays some of their best work, lyric-wise and musically. It seems that everyone can listen and enjoy the very distinct sound of the Utters. With the Dropkick Murphys gaining tremendous popularity, I find that more and more people are starting to listen to the Utters, due to a somewhat similar sound. I also found that the Utters have grown significantly within the Skin population over the past 2 years. No matter who or what you are, the Utters sound can be listened to by many types of people, and is definitely a landmark in the music I listen to. I also feel it's about time to finally have a complete guide to the band that most deserves it. The Swingin' Utters. |
